Rodgers named LMA Manager of the Year

John Gillespie

Carnlough native Brendan Rodgers has been named League Managers’ Association manager of the year.

The 41-year-old steered Liverpool to second in the Premier League and a place in next season’s Champions League. After one of the closest title races in years, Rodgers’ Reds finished just two points behind winners Manchester City.

The award is voted for by LMA members, including every boss in England’s top four divisions.

LMA chairman, Howard Wilkinson, said Liverpool’s performances and results this season “provoked memories of some of those momentous years in the past when they had to contend with those two United’s, the first from Leeds, the second from Manchester.”

Rodgers guided Swansea City to 13th place in the Premier League in 2012 before taking over at Anfield in June of that year.

When he was unveiled as Kop boss, he said the club’s history and the values attracted him to the Merseyside giants, adding that he wanted to defend Liverpool’s principles of “offensive, creative football, but with tactical discipline”.